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Judgment
Lok Pal Singh, J
Petitioner, which is a Trade Union, has filed the present writ petition on behalf of its 45 members, seeking the following reliefs:-
i) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to forthwith pay the amount of Rs.2500/- per year to the members of the petitioner Trade Union as per communication/order dated 15.06.2011 (contained as Annexure No.1 to this writ petition) and also provide the arrears of the same from the issuance of the communication/order dated 15.06.2011 till date.
ii) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to forthwith pay the amount of Rs.500/- per year to the members of the petitioner Trade Union as per communication/order dated 05.03.2014 (contained as Annexure No.3 to this writ petition) and also provide the arrears of the same from the issuance of the communication/order dated 05.03.2014 till date.
Facts, in nutshell, are that the petitioner is a Trade Union. It has 45 members in its roll who are working as Paryavaran Mitra and are members of the Mohalla Swachhata Samiti working under the Nagar Nigam Kashipur. The State Government issued a Government Order dated 15.06.2011 which provided that the payment to the Paryavaran Mitras was being made by the concerned Mohalla Sachhata Samiti and now it has been decided that in future the payment of the members to the petitioner Union would be made by the concerned Nagar Nigam/Nagar Palika Parishad and in this regard the payment would be directly made in the account of the concerned Paryavaran Mitra after ensuring his/her presence.. Said G.O. further provided that the sanitation equipments would be provided by the concerned Swachhata Samiti and the concerned local Self Government would provide Rs.2500/- per year under this head. Thereafter, the State Government issued another Government Order dated 05.03.2014 whereby it has been provided that the Paryawaran Mitra (contractual/daily wage/other sources) working in the Government Departments would henceforth be getting an additional sum of Rs.500/- per month. Petitioner alleges that as per the information received under the Right to Information Act, in compliance of G.O. dated 05.03.2014, the amount of Rs.500/- per month is being paid to the Paryawaran Mitras in other Nagar Palikas/Nagar Nigams like Nagar Palika Parishad Gadarpur, Sitarganj, whereas the members of present petitioner are deprived of the same.
Counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of respondent nos.2 and 3 stating therein that Mohalla Swachata Samitis have been constituted to carry out the cleanliness/sanitation work of the various urban areas. It is also stated that the sum of Rs.2500/- per year as provided in Government Order dated 15.06.2011 has been compensated by way of supplying the hand-cart (thela) and other sanitation tools. Besides this, it is stated that the respondent Nagar Nigam would ensure that the directions under the Government Order dated 15.06.2011 are complied with henceforth. It is further stated that in view of the G.O. dated 05.03.2014 a sum of Rs.500/- per month could not be paid to the members of Mohalla Swachata Samitis but now the same is going to be paid shortly from the salary of October 2019 or November 2019.
Rejoinder affidavit has been filed by the petitioner denying the averments made in the counter affidavit. It is stated that members of the petitioners have not been provided cart, sanitation tools, etc. and these equipments are being arranged by the members of the petitioner union on their own.
Learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that besides the aforesaid sanitation tools the concerned local body has to pay an amount of Rs.2500/- per annum for this purpose as extra labour which is self-evident from the subject of the said G.O. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for respondent nos.2 and 3 would submit that the petitioner has wrongly interpreted the said G.O. As per said G.O., the amount of Rs.2500/- shall be payable to the Mohalla Swachhta Samiti by the concerned urban local body for providing sanitation tools to the Paryawaran Mitras.
A perusal of the Government Order dated 15 6.2011 it would reveal that the said G.O. has been issued in regard to labour payments made to Paryawaran Mitras working in Urban Local Bodies with the Mohalla Swachhta Samiti. Clause 2 of the said G.O. stipulates that the payment shall be made to the Paryawaran Mitras working with the Mohalla Swachhta Samiti by the Nagar Nigam/Nagar Palika/Nagar Panchayat directly in their bank accounts after ensuring their presence. Clause 3 stipulates that the concerned Mohalla Swachhta Samiti shall provide cleaning equipments viz. hand cart, broomsticks, etc. to the Paryawaran Mitras and the concerned local body shall pay Rs.2500/- for this purpose.
Having heard learned counsel for the parties and after perusing the entire material, to my mind, the true interpretation of clause 3 of Government Order dated 15.06.2011 is that the sanitation tools shall be provided to every Paryawaran Mitra by the concerned Mohalla Swachhta Samiti, as was being provided earlier, and in addition, an amount of Rs.2500/- per annum shall also be paid by the concerned urban local body as extra labour cost to the Paryawaran Mitra, meaning thereby that former part clause 3 of said G.O. i.e. supply of sanitation tools to the Paryawaran Mitras is to be complied with by the Mohalla Swachhta Samiti whereas the latter i.e. payment of Rs.2500/- per annum is to be made by concerned local body to the concerned Paryawaran Mitras. I do not find force in the contention of learned counsel for respondent nos.2 and 3 that at the most the amount of Rs.2500/- shall be payable to the Mohalla Swachhta Samiti in lieu of providing sanitation tools to the Paryawaran Mitras.
Insofar as the implementation of Government Order dated 05.03.2014 is concerned, respondent nos.2 and 3 have admitted in their counter affidavit that they shall make payment of enhanced amount of Rs.500/- per month to the concerned Paryawaran Mitras w.e.f. from October or November, 2019. Said G.O. came into force w.e.f. 05.03.2014 and it was directed to be complied at the earliest. In such circumstances, respondent nos.2 and 3 are bound to pay the enhanced sum of Rs.500/-per month to every Paryawaran Mitras after due verification w.e.f. the date of issuance of said Government Order i.e. 05.03.2014.
In view of the foregoing discussion, this writ petition is disposed of with the following directions:-
i) Respondents shall make payment of Rs, 2500/-per annum to the members of the petitioner Union, after due verification of their attendance. This amount of Rs.2500/- per annum shall be payable w.e.f. 15.06.2011.
ii) Respondent nos.2 and 3 are directed to pay enhanced amount of Rs.500/- per month to the members of petitioner Union, as per G.O. dated 05.03.2014. This enhanced amount of Rs.500/-per month shall be payable to the members of petitioner Union, w.e.f. 05.03.2014, after due verification.
iii) Arrears shall be paid to the members of petitioner Union within six months in their respective bank accounts.
No order as to costs.